Compulsory Modules

Semester 1

The module comprises two distinct areas of law: constitutional law and administrative law. In addition, it provides students with an introduction to human rights law and the key provisions of the Human Rights Act 1998. Lectures on constitutional law include the sources of constitutional law, constitutional doctrines, the institutions of the Constitution and the influence of human rights law and EU Law on the Constitution. The section of the course devoted to administrative law provides an introduction to this area of law and focuses on the role of the judiciary and the workings of judicial review.

The module will provide the student with the foundations governing the formation and enforceability of contracts (promise, acceptance and agreement), areas of capacity, intention, legality and certainty of terms. The module includes the remedies available to the parties to a contract and the doctrine of privity of contract. The module will also cover an outline of the law of restitution.

The module introduces the student to the English Legal System, providing a framework to study what is Law, how the system operates and the system in a social context. The module examines the court structure, both civil and criminal, the judiciary, lawyers and the role and significance of lay participation in the system (magistrates, juries and tribunal members) and the development of Human Rights Law. Where relevant, comparisons will be drawn to the Welsh body of law that is emerging from the devolved administration. Students will be encouraged to develop a critical analysis of the system as it moves into the 21st century, in comparison with other countries and with attention to its history.

Semester 2

The module comprises two distinct areas of law: constitutional law and administrative law. In addition, it provides students with an introduction to human rights law and the key provisions of the Human Rights Act 1998. Lectures on constitutional law include the sources of constitutional law, constitutional doctrines, the institutions of the Constitution and the influence of human rights law and EU Law on the Constitution. The section of the course devoted to administrative law provides an introduction to this area of law and focuses on the role of the judiciary and the workings of judicial review.

The module will provide the student with the foundations governing the formation and enforceability of contracts (promise, acceptance and agreement), areas of capacity, intention, legality and certainty of terms. The module includes the remedies available to the parties to a contract and the doctrine of privity of contract. The module will also cover an outline of the law of restitution.

The module introduces the student to the English Legal System, providing a framework to study what is Law, how the system operates and the system in a social context. The module examines the court structure, both civil and criminal, the judiciary, lawyers and the role and significance of lay participation in the system (magistrates, juries and tribunal members) and the development of Human Rights Law. Where relevant, comparisons will be drawn to the Welsh body of law that is emerging from the devolved administration. Students will be encouraged to develop a critical analysis of the system as it moves into the 21st century, in comparison with other countries and with attention to its history.

Optional Modules

40 credits from:

The Basics of Writing a News Story; How to write Intros, Drop Intros, Lively Intros; What makes a good news story?; Where do stories come from?; How to build a contacts book; How to conduct an interview; Writing for TV and Radio; Colour and Feature Writing; An Introduction to Shorthand; How to deal with breaking news.

In "Creating Narratives" you will have the opportunity to investigate, and participate in, a variety of creative activites relating to the production of fiction. You will be able to develop an awareness of issues connected with the writing and consumption of fiction (e.g.creative, cultural and technological issues), and discover how cultural norms and assumptions, and individually writerly actions, influence fiction writing choice and fiction readerships. You will look at contemporary fiction writing around the world in a variety of media, and consider the role of publishers and readers in the creative process.

This module is an introduction to the basic underlying principles of screenwriting. It introduces students to key features of writing for film, and assesses them on their analyses of the screenplay form, plus the writing of a screenplay and treatment, and the pitching of an original concept. Students will primarily focus on writing for the short film format in order to facilitate their assessed short film screenplay assignment.
Lectures will deliver various aspects of screenwriting, broken down week-by-week so that students can digest specific aspects of the craft of screenwriting. These include script formatting, style, structure, genre, plotting, characterisation and dialogue. Students will also learn how to present their work in the form of industry treatments and outlines, as well as techniques for outlining a concept orally, in the form of a film pitch. Students will be encouraged to develop professional writing habits and to give and receive critically constructive comment and advice.
Seminar time will be spent discussing aspects of screenwriting, screened short films, as well as providing an opportunity for students to carry out creative screenwriting tasks in groups. Students will also be encouraged to critically peer evaluate the work of their cohort, and to analyse published screenplays, applying knowledge gained in the lecture. Students will also be required to read portions of screenplay extracts from published work prior to the seminars and lectures (uploaded to Blackboard) in order to analyse them during the seminars.

This course will introduce students to the basic skills and techniques which will enable them to explore the principles of media production through creative work. Students will work in groups to produce two short media texts, using broadcast standard equipment. Students will also be taught how to analyse their own work within the context of theory, and to establish a relationship between media production theory and practice.

The module looks includes a study of information theory in which students engage models for understanding concepts that include data, pattern, similarity of differences, information, structure, design, and communication. Students also explore the history and technology of the internet and the web, the communication models that have grown from them, and the relationship between these channels and the production, delivery, sharing and sale of information. The model includes a practical element in which students work with various software tools to engage with tools and technologies for information design/presentation; this includes background to the main types of information software available and some of the principles that inform them.

Compulsory Modules

Semester 1

The module will provide the student with a comprehensive overview of the political institutions and processes of the European Union and will include the European Court of Justice and its jurisdiction; the sources and general principles of the Law of the European Union; the relationship between the Law of the European Union and National Law. There will also be an introduction to the main area of substantive law of the European Union.

The module will allow the student to study the modern English criminal law, in particular the law relating to:
Introduction;
Actus Reus;
Mens Rea;
Negligence and Strict Liability;
General Defences;
Parties to Crime;
Inchoate Offences;
Homicide;
Non-fatal Offences against the Person;
Offences under the Theft Acts 1968 and 1978: Theft and Related Offences;
Offences involving Deception;
Further Offences under the Theft Act;
Criminal Damage;
Sexual Offences.

The module will allow the student to study the relationship between Equity and Common Law and cover areas of trusts as used for family or commercial or for public charitable purposes.
A study will be made of express, resulting and constructive trusts of property, trustees powers and obligations and the nature and scope of fiduciary obligations. The student will be able to identify the nature and scope of equitable rights and equitable remedies including tracing, freezing injunctions, search orders, specific performance, imposition of personal liability to account as constructive trustee, estoppel entitlements to property or compensation and the developing principle of unconscionability.

Semester 2

The module will allow the student to study the modern English law of torts, in particular the law relating to: negligence, nuisance, liability for psychiatric injury, occupiers liability, product liability, trespass to the person, defamation and other major torts to allow the students to apply the general principles and defences.

The module will allow the student to study the modern English criminal law, in particular the law relating to:
Introduction;
Actus Reus;
Mens Rea;
Negligence and Strict Liability;
General Defences;
Parties to Crime;
Inchoate Offences;
Homicide;
Non-fatal Offences against the Person;
Offences under the Theft Acts 1968 and 1978: Theft and Related Offences;
Offences involving Deception;
Further Offences under the Theft Act;
Criminal Damage;
Sexual Offences.

The module will allow the student to study the relationship between Equity and Common Law and cover areas of trusts as used for family or commercial or for public charitable purposes.
A study will be made of express, resulting and constructive trusts of property, trustees powers and obligations and the nature and scope of fiduciary obligations. The student will be able to identify the nature and scope of equitable rights and equitable remedies including tracing, freezing injunctions, search orders, specific performance, imposition of personal liability to account as constructive trustee, estoppel entitlements to property or compensation and the developing principle of unconscionability.

Optional Modules

40 credits from:

The course will begin with an introduction to on-line journalism, the influence of new digital technology on journalism and its implications for traditional forms of media. We will also discuss the ethical and legal issues involved in producing on-line content. You will be taught a range of skills including how gather news on-line, write and produce visual and audio content for digital news platforms and how to ensure that content reaches a wide audience. You will be expected to put these skills into practice and create your own digital news platform, create content from that platform and distribute that content to the widest possible audience.

In 'Games and Virtual Environments' you will investigate the lively contemporary field of computer/video games and virtual worlds. During the module you will define, discuss and analyse various types of games and virtual environments. You will investigate issues surrounding games narrative and ludology (the theory and philosophy of gaming) as well as look at various video game genres (e.g. 1st person shooters, adventures, civilisation and god games; online, platform and massively multiplayer games). You will also examine the social and psychological effects of playing computer games and learn to evaluate realistically the implications of game consumption with respect to education and entertainment. By the end of this module, you will have developed a broad theoretical and critical background to the analysis of games and virtual environments, and you will be familiar with empirical research methods used to evaluate consumer needs and behaviour.

This module is designed to develop knowledge and skills in writing for film, and introduces key stylistic and textual characteristics of writing for television. The module provides an overview of television writing, separated into television drama and the situation comedy, and outlines the specific demands of these formats for screenwriters. Students are then assessed on their own original television concept in the form of a treatment and screenplay extract, plus a short critical and reflective essay.
The course then goes on to present advanced theories of writing for film - developing concepts of characterisation, structure, genre, visual storytelling and the use of dialogue and action. Students will be encouraged to engage with formal screenwriting concepts such as the three-act structure, genre tropes, active protagonists and plot resolutions. However, they will also be expected to interrogate and challenge these elements of screenwriting craft, and are expected to display this engagement in their assessed work. Students will be assessed on their own original film concept in the form of a treatment and screenplay extract (for a short film or feature film), plus a critical and reflective essay.
Lectures will deliver various features of writing for television and film, using screenings as contextual support material. Lectures will initially present some basic concepts of screenwriting such as script formatting, style, structure, genre, plotting, characterisation and dialogue, before moving on to deal specifically with television drama, situation comedy, the short film and the feature film.
Seminar time will be spent discussing various aspects of screenwriting outlined in the lectures. Students will be encouraged to engage with, and challenge, elements of the craft of screenwriting, and to carry out creative screenwriting tasks in groups. Students will also critically peer evaluate the work of their cohort, and analyse published screenplays, applying knowledge gained in the lectures. Students will be required to develop professional writing habits and to give and receive critically constructive comment and advice.
Proposed films and television programmes to be screened include:
The Sopranos (Chase, 1999-2007), The Wire (Simon, 2002-08), Red Riding (Jarrold, 2009), The Singing Detective (Potter, 1986), The Prisoner (McGoohan, 1967-68), Oz (Fontana, 1997-2003), Twin Peaks (Frost/Lynch, 1990-91), The IT Crowd (Linehan, 2006- ), Spaced (Wright, 1999-2001), The Office (Gervais/Merchant, 2001-3), Father Ted (Linehan, 1995-8).
The Third Man (Reed, 1949), Brief Encounter (Lean, 1945), The Devil¿s Backbone (Del Toro, 2001), Intacto (Fresnadillo, 2001), Hunger (McQueen, 2008), Dead Man's Shoes (Meadows, 2004), The Sea Inside (Amenábar, 2004), The White Ribbon (Haneke, 2009), Festen (Vinterberg, 1998), Uzak (Ceylan, 2002), Sympathy for Mr Vengeance (Park, 2002), Let the Right One In (Alfredson, 2008), The Road (Hillcoat, 2009), Sexy Beast (Glazer, 2000), No Country for Old Men (Coen, 2007)

Students will approach genre fiction from a creative & critical perspective, examining a particular genre across the semester as a series of case studies (e.g., speculative fiction). They will engage in reading and analyzing relevant texts, applying theory and understanding gained to their own creative project.

The creative writer is constantly challenged by the evolution of literary form, striving to create fresh and original narratives that depart from the conventional. Modernism, postmodernism, and now digital media are all avenues of exploration and experimentation. This module focuses on the latter domain, as writers approach narrative through the creation of games. Story-games, such as hypertexts, interactive fictions, and visual novels, necessitate unconventional, and even unnatural, structures and perspectives. By creating playable narratives, students on this course will open their writing up to new expressions, forms, and genres. Students will discuss and explore critical and creative responses to these texts, applying new techniques and awareness to their creative writing practice.

Compulsory Modules

Semester 1

The module will allow the student to study English and Welsh land law, including the nature of land, the development of land law, the law relating to land registration and the distinction between registered and unregistered land, title to land, settlements of land, trusts of land and co-ownership, the law relating to freehold and leasehold estates in land, licences, easements and profits a prendre, freehold covenants, and the regulation of mortgages.

The module will allow the student to study the modern English company law and partnership law, in particular the law relating to the registered company, corporate personality, corporate governance, small business and groups of companies, investor protection and liquidation. The module will also adopt an international perspective in that students will be required to undertake some comparative research.

Semester 2

The module will allow the student to study English and Welsh land law, including the nature of land, the development of land law, the law relating to land registration and the distinction between registered and unregistered land, title to land, settlements of land, trusts of land and co-ownership, the law relating to freehold and leasehold estates in land, licences, easements and profits a prendre, freehold covenants, and the regulation of mortgages.

The module will allow the student to study the modern English company law and partnership law, in particular the law relating to the registered company, corporate personality, corporate governance, small business and groups of companies, investor protection and liquidation. The module will also adopt an international perspective in that students will be required to undertake some comparative research.

Optional Modules

20 credits from:

The module will provide students with the opportunity to develop their research skills; an opportunity to develop their skills of written presentation; and an opportunity to research a topic in more depth than is otherwise possible during their undergraduate studies.

The module will allow the student to study the modern English and Welsh law of evidence, including the law relating to: the burden and standard of proof, hearsay, confessions and the right to silence, corroboration, competence and compellability, identification evidence, opinion evidence, evidence of character, and similar fact evidence.

The module will allow the student to study modern English and Welsh family and welfare law, in particular the law relating to adult relationships and family property, the relationship between children and adults, the resolution of disputes concerning children, the protection of children and the law of adoption, legal responses to domestic violence, and the law relating to homelessness and the protection of elderly and vulnerable adults.

This course examines key issues in jurisprudence and legal philosophy such as legal positivism and natural law, the relationship of law and morals, theories of justice and rights and the nature of the good life. Students will critically examine selected legal philosophies with reference to key current concerns such as the relationship between different branches of the State, domestic and international political issues including terrorism and security, the right to privacy and the rule of law principle. Students will be expected to address these issues with respect to standard and more advanced jurisprudential theories and concepts and to develop a critical personal opinion based on assessment of the theories examined during this course.

The module provides a historical outline and an evaluation of the rules of the various institutions involved. The substantive content includes contract formation, equality rights, family friendly policies, employment protection, collective action, and comparative analysis.

This course examines key issues in jurisprudence and legal philosophy such as legal positivism and natural law, the relationship of law and morals, theories of justice and rights and the nature of the good life. Students will critically examine selected legal philosophies with reference to key current concerns such as the relationship between different branches of the State, domestic and international political issues including terrorism and security, the right to privacy and the rule of law principle.

This module addresses the need of students wishing to move into legal practice of having an experiential contact with situations inspired in reality through a made up scenario. Students will be put in the position of having to help a tech-based startup go through different legal issues it faces.
Before the week seminar the students will have a lecture to introduce them to the key points on the legal area being discussed that week.
Each of the seminars will be roughly focused on a discussion around a specific area of law but as the module progresses the decisions taken in earlier seminars inform the content of the following ones. For instance, the decisions on what company type is the most adequate are going to have consequences on the commercial law and tax law sessions.
For example, on Seminar 1, students will be explained what is expected from them and the scenario will be set. Their preparation for seminar two will entail finding out if a certain name can be registered as a trademark and what its cost and process. They will also need to find out how a company can be incorporated and the costs involved.
The outcome of Seminar 1 will then feed into Seminar 2 (dedicated to company law) where the students will have to think about what content should be included in the articles of incorporation and draft a founder’s agreement.
The remaining seminars will follow the same structure of short “fact finding” homework feeding into the next seminar. Tentatively, the remaining seminars will be focused on commercial law, intellectual property, taxation, raising finance, negotiation, employment law and e-commerce, consumer protection and data protection.

The main areas to be studied include:
• Introduction to Public Procurement and EU Procurement Policy.
• Procurement under the EU Treaty: objectives and the application of Treaty principles to public procurement:
o free movement
o equal treatment
o transparency and
o proportionality
• European Union Procurement Directives
o evolution of procedural rules on Public Procurement;
o the rules on coverage (public sector and utilities) and types of contracts;
o the tendering procedures and methods;
o the procurement process including specification, advertisement, qualification, invitation to tender and evaluation;
o the standstill requirements;
o debrief and contract award;
o the remedies regime.
• Public Procurement in the United Kingdom
o evolution of the regime, implication of devolution on the UK public procurement framework;
o the key rules on advertisement, pre-qualification, invitation to tender and evaluations, standstill, debriefing and contract award and contract award);
o the remedies regime
• Community and national initiatives on public procurement, such as the framework on Collaborative Procurement Agenda, Efficiency reforms, Shared Services, and
Transparency in Public Procurement;
• Special issues – Concession contracts, defence procurement, SMEs, Third Sector organisations

The “International Procurement Regimes” module involves the study of the main principles, main rules and the functioning of UNCITRAL Model Law on Procurement, the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) of the WTO and the procurement rules of selected international finance institutions, all of which have impacted on legal principles in national procurement regimes. Students will gain an appreciation of the main features of international procurement regimes and will be provided with an examination of interesting aspects of the legal regimes, through an integrated study of focusing on the political and economic contexts of the rules and important contemporary developments. Specifically the course of study will involve examination of:
1. The objectives and rationales for regulating procurement
2. The United Nations Model Law on Procurement of Goods, Construction and Services - a model procurement framework?
3. The WTO Agreement on Government Procurement.
4. Regulation of procurement in international finance institutions.
5. Recent regulatory reforms in Public Procurement – examination of experiences from selected countries

40 credits from:

In `E-Publishing' you will have the opportunity to investigate the nature of electronic publishing and electronically published materials, looking at the range, type and style of e-published materials (eg. websites, blogs, podcasts, streamed video and audio, e-books). You will be able to develop an awareness of issues connected with e-publishing (ie. Textual, creative, cultural and technological issues), and discover how cultural norms and assumptions influence e-publishing choice and readership. You will look at global versus national or regional forms of electronic publishing and e-publishing genre. This module will include some master-classes/workshops from the realms of e-publishing.

Lectures will deliver various discourses on the history and development of adaptations, and interrogate the relationship of various media to film. Lectures will also examine a range of concepts related to adaptation, including authorship, visual storytelling, narratology and intertextuality. These concepts will then be applied to film adaptations screened in the same week.
Seminar time will be spent discussing theories of adaptation, and also provide an opportunity for students to carry out creative adaptation tasks in groups, such as conceiving short film ideas, and developing adaptations from non-literary sources, such as music and photography, and other visual arts.
Students will need to demonstrate an understanding of key theories related to the comparative textual analysis of an adaptation to its source material in assessed essays. However, the module is heavily focused on the creative act and process of adaptation, and offers the chance for students to radically imagine pre-existing texts in other media in their assessed coursework.
Proposed films to be screened include: Adaptation (Jonze, 2002), Throne of Blood (Kurosawa, 1957), American Psycho (Harron, 2000), The Innocents (Clayton, 1961), The Others (Amenábar, 2001), The Watchmen (Snyder, 2009), Don't Look Now (Roeg, 1973), The Shining (Kubrick, 1980), Apocalypse Now (Coppola, 1979), Stalker (Tarkovsky, 1979), Zatoichi (Kitano, 2003), Where the Wild Things Are (Jonze, 2009), La Jetée (Marker, 1962), 12 Monkeys (Gilliam, 1995), Naked Lunch (Cronenberg, 1991), A Cock & Bull Story (Winterbottom, 2005), Elephant (Clarke, 1989), Elephant (Van Sant, 2003), The Five Obstructions (Leth/Von Trier, 2003).

Students will approach genre fiction from a creative & critical perspective, examining a particular genre across the semester as a series of case studies (e.g., speculative fiction). They will engage in reading and analyzing relevant texts, applying theory and understanding gained to their own creative project.

The creative writer is constantly challenged by the evolution of literary form, striving to create fresh and original narratives that depart from the conventional. Modernism, postmodernism, and now digital media are all avenues of exploration and experimentation. This module focuses on the latter domain, as writers approach narrative through the creation of games. Story-games, such as hypertexts, interactive fictions, and visual novels, necessitate unconventional, and even unnatural, structures and perspectives. By creating playable narratives, students on this course will open their writing up to new expressions, forms, and genres. Students will discuss and explore critical and creative responses to these texts, applying new techniques and awareness to their creative writing practice.